Flora Jean's Green Tomato Pickles

Boy oh boy when the weather drops to 0C and the snow is on the mountains it signal an end to your tomato season. By now you will have harvested lots of beautiful ripe orbs and the plants themselves will be looking a bit tired and wan, leaves withering, yet still some smaller glossy green fruit remaining.

My mother came to town and I convinced her to have a day with me making green tomato pickles. It is her mother's recipe we used, where it came from before that I know not for it is a hand written recipe.

We picked yet more tomatoes, this time green. Such a gorgeous colour and vibrancy, as I chopped them I thought of the term "apple green" yet more luminous. 

As we worked she admitted to me how sorry she was she had not asked more questions when her mother was alive, prompted because of the various musings and suppositions we made as we read and re-read through the recipe.

I know Nan used to soak the vegetable over night in salted water but we debated about the validity of the step as opposed to just cooking it all up. Mum thinks that sometimes there were funny theories about such things, like cucumbers and gas for instance. Well we opted to cook without soaking which is the only deviation from the recipe. 

It follows....

Green Tomato Pickles

4lb green tomatoes chopped

2lb onion chopped

1/2 small cauliflower cut into flowerets

1 small cucumber peeled and chopped

1 tabs salt

1/2 cup flour

2 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 tabs mustard

2 tabs turmeric

1/4 tabs cayenne pepper

1 tabs curry powder

2 1/2 cups of malt vinegar

Place all the ingredients into a large pot except for flour and boil for about 20mins till the vegetables are tender. 

Mix the flour with a little water and add to the pot and boil for up to another 10 mins until the mixture thickens.

Remove from the heat and bottle and seal.

We may have gone overboard quadrupling the recipe! It seemed like a good idea at the time but in hind sight I won't be needing to make pickles again for a long time.

Above is the last lot of tomato relish I made and these #14 Fowlers jars are a great size for relish and pickles. The last of them were used to bottle up the pickles as well.

I love this on warm buttered toast in the morning or with cheese in a sandwich for lunch. It also goes great with cold meats or alongside a salad.

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I would also like to tell you ladies who commented on the last post what a great bunch of girlfriends you are. You helped to give me that push and the impetus to pull that knitting out and wind it back up.

As much as I love the colour, the yarn is just not me. It certainly would not have done the pattern justice.

I have decided to give it to one of the patients who comes into work. She does lots of knitting for charity and I'm sure she can put it to much better uses.

Thank you so much ladies for your kind, caring and considered responses.

xxx 

Your Bouclé Thoughts

I have been a little quiet of late owing to some slight indisposition which has forced me to the couch and some quiet time with a rug over the knees. An ideal situation for taking up the knitting.

I have acquired this bouclé and admire the dusty pink and muted lilac shades but ....

before I knit on and on,

I can't help thinking.....

Is it yarn appropriate for this?

Any thoughts?

Even though the ply is correct, I can't help thinking it looks bulky.

I have in mind that it will go well with fuscia, mauve and grey.

It's not the yarn that I fear to waste but the time is certainly more valuable.

Perhaps it is just suck it and see,

and perhaps bouclé will by it's nature be flexible and forgiving.

Have you worked anything in bouclé?

What did you make and have you loved it?

Tomato Paste

I made tomato paste for the first time this year. 

The crop has been so good this year that I have extra to play with.

It's very simple but it did tie me to the house for hours.

First I washed and wizzed the tomatoes in a food processor and then passed them through a mouli food mill.

I made about 6lt of pulp and filled two baking dishes.

I placed them in the oven at 180C

and reduced, stirring every half hour or so...

Reducing.....darker...thicker...

after about three hours I reduced the heat to 150C as it was coming closer to a thick paste.

Until after another half hour or so I had a nice thick dark firm sauce.

Someone once asked me what I use my smaller Fowlers Vacola jars for and here is a great example.

These are a #10 and perfect sizing for the paste.

Some recipes say to keep the paste in the fridge with a thick layer of oil on top but I processed mine in the water bath at 80C for half an hour to sterilise and seal so that I can have them on the shelf for the year till next summer.

Six jars this size are too small for my FV outfit so the pasta cooker comes in handy. It is just right for the bottles and keeps them off the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, you could use a cake rack inside a stockpot.

Quite a few hours but definitely worth the effort.

Tomorrow is tomato relish day.

Hero Bugs

It's been a particularly fungal year here around the squash plants and zucchinis but I don't use any sprays. I try to periodically clear spent leaves back to new and fresh ones and the plant keeps producing just fine.

When I trim back the leaves I check them out and make sure these guys make it back to the plant.

They are my heroes.

The job is enormous and they are so small but they keep busy all day munching away at the fungus.

Little troopers!

How could you bear to spray and wipe these guys out?

Store Updated With Seeds

The soap has all sold out and another batch a little way off so I have updated the shop

"Jubilee Jumble" button at the top

with saved seeds.

Some are ready for sowing now in the Southern Hemisphere and others are right for the Northern Hemisphere.

As promised I have Rat Tail Radish seeds available and they ready to be sown in Spring.

Coriander seed is available now and contrary to popular belief this is best sown now and up until early winter, particularly in Tasmania where it bolts to seed in Spring. It is such a welcome hit of fragrant lush green in the dreary depths of winter.

As is the cross bred green leaf that we grow through the winter yummy in stir-frys but also great as salad. You can eat the stems, leaves and flowers. 

Also available for those in the Northern Hemisphere for Spring/Summer planting are the giant sunflowers.

One hundred percent of the cost for these goes to helping fight against Youth Suicide and Depression.

Read about the cause here.

Please don't forget to calculate you postage. If you are unsure, email me and I can send you a complete remittance.

Get The Straw In

Summer season is winding down and a lot of work is concentrated in the kitchen preserving but....

Don't Stop Yet!

Keep that momentum going for just a little longer. 

There are a few jobs to be done yet for winter ahead.

Now is the ideal time to buy your straw and get in some manure.

Pea straw is available now either in the paddock or delivered, whatever suits your circumstances best.

The key here is to think ahead over a whole year though. Most people only think in the moment or one season when it comes to straw and by summer when you are needing mulch it is an astronomical price.

What will you use it for?

Mulch; for trees and beds over winter suppressing weeds, adding nitrogen and also for conserving moisture during the next summer period - that's going to take a few bales!

Compost; to actively heat your pile with layers of brown and green waste.

Chook pen; for dry bedding underfoot and for insulation.

If you live in a cold district, stacking some bales against the an exposed side of the hen house helps insulate. This straw stays relatively dry on the bottom layers with little spoilage and is a great resource come spring.

Conserve that baling twine too for all your tying up jobs around the garden. It's great for temporary fencing, beans trellising and tomato staking.

I go through at least 20 bales a year and I always get to summer and wish I had more.

I like pea straw because it is quite clean and if any peas germinate they are easily dealt with. Because it is a vine product, the trash spread tends to stay entwined and thick on beds and resists being blown by the wind and dashed by the rain. 

Be aware of the type of straw that you use in poultry sheds. You don't want it to be too dusty or mouldy as this can cause respiratory problems in your hens.

So make a list and check it twice and then order twice as much as you think and you should be about right for the year.

Home For A Few Days...

You may have heard about the widespread torrential rain and flooding in Western New South Wales and that means wet sheep so....

my man came home to me for a few days!

That's what has been keeping me (busy) quiet for a few days.

The first thing he did was a blitz on the garden, especially the edges.

Sorting and labelling saved seed is high on the agenda also.

And Tomatoes....

 are a huge preoccupation also.

I spend a lot of time every morning picking and bottle twice a week.

There are tomatoes in baskets, boxes on benches and trays all over the kitchen and the dining room table. 

But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Most people around me are complaining about their tomato crops.

It's been a very, very dry hot year and all I can say is that watering is key.

Water enables the plant to not only drink but cope with respiration from leaf surface area which is large. It also makes nutrients available in soluble solution for the plant to take up.

By watering I mean deep soaking once a week so that the sub-soil is damp. Most people sprinkle for five minutes with a hose every few days and that really isn't going to cut it I'm afraid. You are better off leaving the hose on the root area at a slow drip for hours.

Some people kept praying for rain which didn't come. Well the proof is in the pudding there and you can't blame the tomato variety or the weather. As a suburban grower you are well set up and able to irrigate.

Remember my favourite saying, and you can use it here for sure...

"IF  IT'S  TO  BE  IT'S  UP  TO  ME"